Lexicon - The Rapstars E.P.

Owusu & Hannibal - Living With Owusu and Hannibal

Youngblood Brass Band - Is That A Riot?

Zion I & the Grouch - Heroes in the City of Dope

Monday I caught Howard Tate at the Continental Club down on South Congress. Howard is a much lauded soul singer from the late '60's among collectors but basically unheard of by anyone else. I discovered him through an article in the annual Oxford American southern music issue (2005 ). Still, I've never stumbled on any of his records. Apparently after the mid 70's he basically fell off the face of the Earth and has only in the past few years reemerged and begun recording and touring again. He's older and a little scary when climbing the rickety half staircase to the red curtained stage, but his voice still holds an audience in suspense even if it has become thinner over the years. And he holds a genuine appreciation for his audience, which he displayed by shaking every hand deep into the second row during his final number. Most importantly, very few torch bearers of the soul legacy still tour and it felt like crawling out of Michael J. Fox's Delorean to see Howard on that tiny stage in a dive bar in south Austin.

Jill tried to drag me back stage after the show to talk to him and I refused. I feel stupid for that now. How many 25 year olds are there in the world that understand how important the social contributions of soul music were to America? I should have just gone back and said, "Thank You."

Well it was fun while it lasted. I bought this Novax CH-8 last January. The CH-8 is Charlie Hunter's custom designed 8 string guitar which utilizes 3 bass strings tuned E-A-D, 5 guitar strings A-D-G-B-E and a split pickup system that runs bass and guitar lines out to their respective amplifiers. I spent 2 months playing nothing but James Brown tunes on this guitar and it taught me two things:

1.) I love James Brown in the most masculine way possible.

2.) I can't play 8 string guitar.

I might have guessed, I don't even like to play a 6 string in dropped-D. But I am amazed by Charlie Hunter and have wanted one of these for nearly as long as I have played guitar. Other gear I have bought because of Charlie includes a Hughes and Kettner Tube Rotosphere, a Mesa Boogie amp, and I've been lusting after the now out of production Way Huge Aqua Puss analog delay pedal. I've even considered strapping my Boss TU-12 to my pedal board instead of messing with a stomp box and to be honest, if I ever used any of the guitar pedals I owned, I would probably buy a Keeley Compressor too. When it comes down to it Charlie is still amazing and I'm too obsessive about being awesome at everything to have time to learn 8-string. So I am selling the Novax to pay for the Custom Shop Tele I bought a few months ago. By the way, James Brown's guitarist Phelps Collins played a tele. (Sorry no link to that, that guy is a ghost.)

So lately I have been inseparable from George Harrison's early 70's output. Obsessive to the point that I spend entirely too much time analyzing every available configuration of guitar slides to try to find that clean sparkly sound he gets on his lead lines. Oh, and my ringfinger is the lone digit with dishpan hands from essentially sitting inside a jar for hours while I perfect the tag solo from "The Lord Loves The One." Of course, the only detailed info I can find on his guitars is during his Beatles tenure. Either way, as a slide melody master tribute here are 4 Fab solos from the man himself.

1. "I'd Have You Anytime" - All Things Must Pass

2. "How Do You Sleep" - Imagine (John Lennon)

3. "The Lord Loves The One" - Living In The Material World

4. "I Dig Love" - All Things Must Pass

The most recent addition. These guys are out there.

Of Mexican Descent - Exitos y Mas Exitos